Apparatus for refining hydrocarbons.



E. n. KENDALL.`

APPARATUS FOR REFININGHYDROCARBONS.

APPLICATION HLED APR.29. 1912.

1,154,517. Patentedsept.. 21, 1915.

l Inventor:

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD D. KENDALL, F ELIZABETH, NEW JER-SEY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD T0 LOUIS T. HAGGIN, OF CLOSTER, NEW JERSEY, MARGARET V. HAGGIN AND ALLAN MCCULLOH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., AND I-I. ESK. MLLER, OF MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY, EXECUTORS OF JAMES B. HAGGIN, DECEASED, AND ONE-THIRD TO ESTATE OF WILLIAM A. lIVIIEGRATIH, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

APPARATUS FOR REFINING HYDROCARBONS.

Specincation of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 21, 1915.

' by which the action of the refining agents may be regulated and equalized and, second,

to avoid the use of driven currentsof air as a means of agitatlng and commlnghng the hydrocarbons and refining agents, which air conveys moisture to the acid, which greedlly absorbs the moisture and thereby has its efficiency asa refining agent" greatly reduced, and which air forms explosive mixtures by taking up. hydrocarbon-vapors and which method of treating with forced currents of air is attended with the further disadvantage that in treating a large volume of hydrocarbon `(referring, particularly, to the crude 'burning-oil or so-called distillate) with sulfuric acid, the portions of the hydrocarbon first chemically and suficiently acted` on by the acid are again and repeatedly subjected to contact with the acidln order to completely treat the succeeding and later portions of the hydrocarbon, soprotracting the time required for agitation, and the said first portions of the hydrocarbon, so overtreated, acquiring darker color, tend to 'discolor the entire body of the refined hydrocarbon.

The apparatus is illustrated by the accompanying drawing, in which- Flgure l is a vertical section of the treating vessels and the accompanying settling tanks and Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the washing vessels and settling tanks.

In the drawing, A and B (Fig. 1) represent two vessels preferably of conical form and similar in. all essential respects: these vessels may be made of any suitable material: for small operations they may be made of chemical stoneware vor crude porcelain, but the plant illustrated in the drawing is intended for large operations and the vessels A and B may be constructed as shown, C and C being outer shells of heavy steel or iron plate and c and c inner linings of sheet lead and D and D innermost thick linings of chemical stoneware, or crude porcelain, or other suitable material; the thick perforated end-pieces (Z, CZ, d, d, `may be made of the same material as D, D, or other suitable material.

Attached to the outside of the shells, C and C are heavy hoops of iron, F, F, F, F, resting in grooves in the peripheries of the rollers indicated by f, f, f, f, which support the vessels A and B and contents thereof.

The vessels A and B, asshown in the drawing, are mounted so that the longitudinal line of the bottom of each is parallel with thelevel Hoor, platform, or concrete foundation on which the vessel stands.

The vessels A and B are nearly filled with balls, or rounded pieces, which I will herein refer to as ballsfH, H, of chemical stoneware, or glass, or crude porcelain, or other suitable material, thel sizes of these balls to be proportioned somewhat to the interior dimensions of the vessels A and B, which vessels are rotated by means of the attached rope-pulleys G and G, for which flanged belt-pulleys, or gearing, may be substituted if required. v

The 'vessels A and B having been charged with the proper respective quantities of the movable'balls, H, H, that is to say quantities that will nearly fill the interiors yof the said- -vessels and leave room for pervading move- 'ments of the masses of balls when the vessels A and B are rotated, the lead-lined covers L and M are to be bolted over the larger ends (as shown in the drawing)` of the vessels A and B; extending from the lcenter of each of these covers is a tubular stufling box, l and lm.: a short lead-linedpipe, I, closed at its outer end (as shown in the drawing) passes through the stuffing box Z. ".(The packing in the stuffing boxes may be a composition of soft asbestos, graphite and paraffin). The pipe I receivesl the outlet-ends of the pipe K andthe much smaller pipe c.

The smaller and open ends of the rotat,

c', c. The lower part of each of Ithese fun nels enters an-opening in the cover of a leadlined settling-tank, T and t, made of steel or iron, Vwhich two tanks are alike, excepting th it t may be larger than T, each of'these tanks is provided with a lead-lined outlet pipe, P and p, leading from its upper part and with a lead-lined outlet valve and pipe near the bottom; the outlet pipe P finally enters the short pipe c' which is like the pipe I and passes through the stuffing box fm, delivering into the vessel B; a much smaller pipe, O, also enters and delivers into the short pipe The outlet-pipe 79, leading from the tank t, connects witlra. pipe IV, (Fig. 2), both pipes delivering into a closed vessel, Q, having tw o compartments, R and r, the dividing partition between which is open only near the bottom of the said vessel, there providing communication between the two compartments; in each of these compartments are perforated disks or diaphragms, in R and r, allvconstructed and arranged to act as baffleplates. The vessel Q, may have more than two compartments, all equipped with baiieplates correspondingly arranged and may be made of any suitable material or materials: it may be made of chemical stoneware, all in one piece of material including the bafiiedisks, or it may be made of iron or steel plates, lined with lead, and the perforated disks may be made of chemical stoneware orv porcelain,or of lead hardened with a small percentage of antimony. The baffledisks should, preferably, be made' with such projections from one'surface of each as shall increase the agitation of liquids passing through the vessel Q and the projections on the disks in R, the first compartment of the said vessel, should extend upward, the pro# jections on the disks'in 1f', the second compartment,V extendin downward. Liquids entering the vessel must pass downward through the first compartment and upward through the secondcompartment in order to escape from the said vessel through the outlet-pipe w.' this pipe w conveys such liquids into a lead-lined settling tank, U, constructed fin all respects like the settling tanks T and t, excepting that it may be larger than either. (Before transference to the tank U the liquids may be conveyed from the vessel Q through a second connected vessel like Q, similarly constructed and equipped with bafiie disks, or through a series of such vessels, if required).

The outlet-pipe fw, extending from the up per part of the tank U, finally connects with the pipe V, both pipes delivering into a closed vessel, S, which is constructed, and equipped with baffle disks, in all essential respects like the vessel Q. (Two or more such vessels may be connected together in series.) The outlet-pipe s from the vessel S delivers finally into a settling tank Y, constructed like the tanks T, t and U excepting that it need not be lined with lead. The outletpipe y, near the upper part of the tank Y conducts to a tank for the storage of liquidi I will now describe the operation of my process as used for the refiningof hydrocarbons, especially the so called distillate or crude burning oil from petroleum.

Referring to the drawing, the distillate is vessel A and thoroughly commingle the acid and distillate, even with forcible contact: the rolling motion of the balls smears them with acid and also so smears the interior of the vesscA, thus enormously increasing the area of contact of the acid with distillate.

The liquids, filling the interstices of 'the balls and all interspaces within the vessel A, acting as lubricant, prevent material attri- ,tion and, serving as a-cushion, prevent injurious impacts of the balls against the innermost lining of the vessel A.

From the vessel A the liquids pass through the funnel J into the settling tank T where the sulfuric acid, with associated matter, quickly subsides and passes out of the tank throughvthe valve and pipe near the bottom of the tank, whilethe partially treated distillate rises and passes out of the tank through the outlet-pipe P which pipe finally and continuously delivers this distillate into the short pipe z' and the rotating vessel B: the pipe O continuously conveys a second supply, in much larger proportion, of sulfuric acid, delivering the same into the vessel B, where the real chemical action of the sulfuric acid on the distillate occurs.

Under the conditions before described,

' continuous current of water, for washing` the tendency 4to precedence inynatural moveyLiegi-sra' ing, mixing and rubbing action of the rolling balls therein, the acid being smeared over the moving balls and the innermost 4sur- Y faces of the vessel B, the distillate is subjected to intimate, thorough and forcible contact with the sulfuric acid over a very large area dui-in its continuous flow through the vessel B. he liquids escape from this vessel B and through the funnel j into the leadlined tank t from which'the sulfuricacid,

'with combined matter sludge .aeid), 'l passes out through the adjusted valve and connected pipe near the bottom of said tank,

while the acid-treated distillate escapes through the pipe p ,which ypipe connects with the pipe -W (Fig. 2) through which flows a the distillate, in volume preferably greater ment of the water and distillate reversing ment due to the di'erentl'gravities of the two liquids. From the vessel Q the washed distillate and water passthrough the outlet pipe w into the lead-lined settling tank U:

the water subsides and flows' out of the tank 4.` ln anapparatus-for refining hydrocarbons,"a 'conical rotating vessel arranged with itslbwer-side horizontal, a perforated plate through the adjusted valve and the pipe near the bottom of the tank and the distillateA passes out through the pipe vu which.

pipe connects with the pipe VVV' through which flows a continuous current of solutionV of alkali (preferably of sodium hydroxid, because of its cheapness) and both distillate',

and alkaline solution are conducted intothe vessel S which is constructed in all essential respects like the vessel Q excepting that it may be of somewhat smaller dimensions; in

tion Hows out through the valve and pipe near the bottom of the tank and the vdistilllate (now refined oil passes out through the pipe y and is conveyed, by means of e pumps or otherwise, to a storage tank or tanks.

'v i Havin thus described my apparatus,

what I c aim is:- v

1. -In an apparatus for refiningA hydrocarbons,`a rotating vessel containing mov-y able balls, aperforated end piece at each end of the vessel, connections at one end of the vessel for supplying respectively hydrocarbon 'and sulfuric acid, a hooded funnel extending over the other end of the vessel communicatingwith a settling tank.

i 2. in anapparatus vfor refining hydrocar-A bons, a comcal rotating vessel arranged with secured within leach end of the vessel, movableballs between said end pieces, a cover for one end of said vessel and outside of the perforated end piece, a pipe connected to said cover,an.oil supply pipe and a sulfuric acid supply pipe connected to the first mentionedpipe, a hooded funnel extending ov'er :thel opposite end'of saidv vessel, communicating with a settling tank.

3.V In an apparatus for refining hydrocar! bons,lconical rotating vessels arranged in series each havlng its lower slde horizontal, a

perforated plate within each end of; each lof said vessels, movable ballsin each vessel be- Y tween said plates, a' cover closing one end of each of said vessels, supplyconnections secu\red to each cover for delivering material toberefined and supplying sulfuric acid to each vessel, hoods extending over the other ends 'ofi eachvessel, communicating respectively with settling tanks.

withineachf end of said vessel, movable balls in the vessel .between said plates, a cover its lower side'horzontal, a perforated disk closing one end of said vessel, connections secured to said cover for supplying hydrocarbon and sulfuric acid to the vessel, a hooded funnel extending over the other end of the vessel in communication with a settling tank, a closedvessel in communication with the settling tank having a partition di,-

viding said' vessel into two compartments, v

perforated diaphragms in each compartment an additlonal supply pipe connected to said vessel and an outlet pipe connected to the same.

EDWARD D. KENDALL.

Witnesses: I

AD. A. DA'vms,

Geo. W. JAEKEL. 

